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Penn and Teller have worked as perhaps the best-known magic act for 35 years. And there are many reasons for that, but the best may be because the two spend as little time together as possible.

They are, indeed, as different as they appear to be in public, and as a result, they socialize together maybe three times a year. Penn Jillette, he said in an interview, goes to Teller’s house once every four years. There’s no dislike between the two, but there’s not much affection either.

“But respect,” Penn said, “is stronger than affection. A lot of well-known acts fell in love with each other, and because of that, the second things didn’t go well, it was destroyed. We don’t expect everything to be as perfect and smooth. We expect it to be difficult, and getting along becomes easy because of that.”

Penn said he is a better magician, and entertainer than he would be without Teller, and Teller feels the same way. So even though the two argue all the time about their act, it doesn’t seem to matter. They’re successful because of each other. They will appear Friday at the Union Colony Civic Center for their first Colorado show in 18 years.

It’s not as acrimonious as it sounds. The two, in fact, agree on many important things, maybe the most important things, Penn said. They both love to work all the time, they don’t drink or do drugs, and they always show up on time. They don’t have problems with money.

“I’m always amazed at how many in show business work so hard to get out of show business,” Penn said. “You see stand-up comedians, and then they get a show, and then they fade away. I have the life I’ve wanted since I was 16.”

Those arguments give them the best show they can deliver, Penn said, and their need for inspiration keeps their show fresh. They’ve had a 13-year run at the Rio in Las Vegas, and the general rule in that town is to keep the same show as long as you can because the audience is always different. But they don’t see it that way. They’ve worked on developing one trick, something about dressing up a cow as an elephant and then making it disappear, for six years. They hope to debut it this summer. When they will debut it, they will enjoy a sensation few long-time entertainments ever get to feel.

“It’s that wonderful feeling of being scared to death,” Penn said.

The act they will present at the UCCC is far different from what they do at the Rio, Penn said. He calls those bits much hardier and more durable, stuff that relies more on their abilities as magicians than the nuances their own theater can help them get across.

The security of a Vegas show is supposed to make acts complacent, but it seems to have the opposite effect on them, he said.

“We don’t ever feel pressure to create new stuff,” Penn said. “We create it because we want to. We do really, really, really hard stuff now, and it’s because we have the luxury to do that.

“As we get older, you’re supposed to mellow out and work less. But we’ve gotten weirder and weirder, and we just love it.”